Lunch: Shrimp Cocktail, Fresh Fruit (my friend had the best bridal shower brunch but these were the only compliant spoils I could find!)

Snack: Rx Bar, Ginger Tea, Homemade Plantain Chips

Dinner: Jerk Chicken Drummetts, Lemon Green Beans

Thoughts

I feel like I was a little late to the party on this one, but I’m really liking the squash substitution for spaghetti! Below is a recipe for a meat sauce/ chili he paired with butternut squash noodles. The yield for this recipe is pretty big, so feel free to cut it in half if you’re want a night’s worth! Although we killed our butternut squash in one sitting, we ended up using the sauce as a pseudo-chili (it’s pretty hardy) for a couple lunches.

M E A T S A U C E

Ingredients

2 Pounds ground beef

1 White Onion

1 Teaspoon garlic

1 Yellow bell pepper

1 Orange bell pepper

1 Cup portobello mushroom

1 Zucchini

32 Ounces crushed tomatoes

1/ 4 Cup fresh basil

1/4 Cup fresh thyme

1/4 Cup fresh oregano

Salt , black pepper and red pepper flakes to taste

Process

Brown ground beef, onion and minced garlic. Remove this mixture from the pot and set aside.

On a chopping board, chop pepper and zucchini into ½ inch cubes. Slice mushroom, and sauté all vegetables into the pot that used to contain the beef.

Cover the pot with a lid and let this simmer on medium-low for 10 minutes. Add Beef and onion mixture back into the pot and let this cook together for another 5- 10 minutes.

For the “noodles”: You can use spaghetti squash (just cut it in half and bake it in the oven with a little olive oil, salt and pepper), or grab the same butternut squash noodles we found in Whole Foods’ produce section. At $4, each “noodle” was literally the perfect size and texture. The only preparation required was a light sauté in a pan of olive oil.